All Whites fall to crushing defeat after Egypt comeback at World Cup

The All Whites have suffered a 3-1 defeat against Egypt in their second match of the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver, putting them in danger of crashing out of the tournament.

After leading at the halftime break, the All Whites fell apart in the second half, conceding three goals to lose their first World Cup match since 1982.

It was Egypt’s first-ever win at a World Cup, with their captain Mohamed Salah leading from the front and scoring his side's second goal to help complete the comeback.

It was yet another early goal that gave the All Whites the lead in a World Cup match, as New Zealand fans were once again given the opportunity to believe.

All Whites defender Finn Surman was found unmarked after Tim Payne’s corner from the left, and he produced a powerful header into the net to send the All Whites players and fans into a frenzy in Vancouver.

Egypt lacked the attacking threat in the first half,as the All Whites did well to shut down the dangerous Salah, who had a good chance from a free kick which he sent wide of the post.

Sarpreet Singh and Callum McCowatt received the All Whites’ first yellow cards of the tournament in the first half as the Kiwis gave away nine fouls in the first 45 minutes.

Egypt came roaring out in the second half, with plenty of chances troubling Max Crocombe in the All Whites’ goal.

They finally found the equaliser as Mostafa Zico powered a header past Crocombe. The Kiwi shot stopper managed to get a hand to it but couldn’t tip it over the bar.

Things went from bad to worse for the All Whites as Egypt once again capitalised on their momentum with former Liverpool FC winger Salah grabbing their second goal to put them in front. It was a nice move down the right as Salah found the feet of Zico, who laid it off on a plate for the Egyptian captain to roll it into the bottom left corner.

Egyptian substitute Mahmoud Trezeguet came on and made an immediate impact as he turned the ball home from a corner with a diving header to seal the three points.

It was the first win for any team in Group G, with Egypt now moving to the top of the table as the All Whites fall to the bottom.

All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley said the loss against Egypt was "disappointing" for New Zealand, who looked dominant throughout the first half.

"We were good in the first half, dominated possession and created a lot of chances," Bazeley said.

"We came out in the second half, and I thought we were okay, but we didn't quite get to the level of the pace of the game. Egypt upped the tempo, and we couldn't replicate what we did in the first half."

"This is going to hurt, the same as Iran. It hurts seeing these guys (Egypt) celebrate because that could've been us."

New Zealand now faces the daunting task of 9th-ranked Belgium in their final group game on Saturday, with a win needed for them to have a chance of progressing out of the group.

"We're still one game away from making history. We now have to beat Belgium," Bazeley said.

All Whites 1 (Surman 15’) Egypt 3 (Zico 59’, Salah 67’, Trezeguet 82’) HT 1-0

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